Digital Marketing Solutions Summit | Forum Events Digital Marketing Solutions Summit | Forum Events Digital Marketing Solutions Summit | Forum Events Digital Marketing Solutions Summit | Forum Events Digital Marketing Solutions Summit | Forum Events

Posts Tagged :

Research

Top ten PR and marketing tactics to help retain e-commerce customers
By:
0

In 2022, the UK was expected to have almost 60 million e-commerce users — leaving only a minority of the population as non-digital buyers. As such, e-commerce has undeniably become the norm for shoppers everywhere in the UK, resulting in an increasingly competitive environment.

With this in mind, and following a 7,900% increase in monthly searches for “customer retention” over the last three years, PR and communications specialists Wild PR, has shared ten ways e-commerce business owners can build excellent customer relations and retain existing customers to maximise return sales and up-sells…

Define your target client personas

In order to retain customers, you need to ensure your strategy is formed on attracting the right people and getting a comprehensive understanding of their needs, goals and objectives.

Clarify your perfect target audience and personas by researching the current industry landscape and competitor profiles, as well as listening to your current customers so you can define your tone of voice to best engage with them. This will allow you to appeal to the right clients for your business.

Embed your brand purpose

When choosing brands to do business with, today’s consumers are more interested in the impact that brands have on the world than just what products or services they offer. To take your brand to the next level, you need a mission statement that resonates with your audience.

Brand purpose is essential because it shows customers that you’re more than just a product, service or advertising campaign; you have a larger goal, and it’s not just about making a profit.

Make customers feel appreciated and valued

This is often as simple as saying thank you. Express your thanks with a special written note or a coupon for their next visit in their delivery or via their order confirmation. This is a way to remind them again that they made the right decision in doing business with you.

Go the extra mile

Why not send a Happy Birthday or customer anniversary offer as a show of appreciation for your customer’s loyalty?

Maximise the use of data from your CRM to identify the best possible times to interact with your customers. Whether it’s their birthday, their anniversary of becoming a customer with you, their pet’s birthday or perhaps their wedding anniversary, there are multiple opportunities to show your customer how much you appreciate them.

This may be an email with a discount for their order, or you could send them an unexpected sample gift in the post with an offer code allowing for potential appreciation posts on their social media platforms, which could, in turn, generate customer referrals. Win-win!

Ask for feedback

How can you improve your customer service if you don’t ask them what they think? Surveys and other means of gathering feedback can help you to learn what your customers enjoy and where improvements can be made.

You can even incentivise this by providing a discount code for everyone who completes the survey as a token of thanks, which could result in increased orders.

Value honesty and integrity

As a business, it is crucial always to have a culture of honesty and integrity. Refrain from blaming the customer if something goes wrong with your product or if something is missing from an order and you still need to meet the customer’s expectations.

While the issues might be out of your hands, or it might indeed be the customer’s fault, find a way to fix the issue as quickly as possible and promptly respond to complaints politely and professionally.

If communication is being undertaken on social media pages, look for a way to take the communication privately to minimise the chances of the post showing in potential customer feeds.

Engage in two-way communication with customers

Two-way communication between brands and consumers is beneficial for both parties. Social media platforms, in particular, have made it easy for companies to connect with their customers so they no longer feel like strangers.

Make sure to respond to consumer feedback or questions, as failing to do so can create a sense of distrust, or potential customers could view you as being inactive and, as such, risk the loss of orders.

Building a community online

As part of the buyer journey, consumers are often primarily looking to learn more about a company’s products or services before making their purchase decision.

By building a strong online community that aligns with your business, you can strengthen brand loyalty and attract new customers. Companies can easily achieve this by providing educational content for customers through newsletters, forums, videos, blog posts, and even whitepapers.

Digital PR and Traditional PR

Customers who see a company being talked about in positive news stories are more likely to feel secure about their buying decisions when purchasing from the business.

Traditional PR, such as company announcements, product launches, thought leadership or commentary on relevant topics, can boost credibility when it comes to retaining and attracting clients.

While Digital PR can help drive referral traffic through an element of link building, helping your site rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This tactic helps get you in front of new customers, reminds lapsed customers about your brand, and makes loyal customers advocate for your brand. All tactics that help increase sales.

Hire a PR agency to manage communications

Hiring a PR agency can help brands stay ahead of the curve and reach a much wider audience.

Usually, the agency would work alongside internal marketing teams or directly with CEOs and business owners to promote an e-commerce brand’s products and services while positioning them as the best option in the market.

Local language support essential for online sales success
By:
0

When it comes to buying from brands online, over four in five consumers won’t buy from a brand that doesn’t offer local language support

That’s according to a new report released by RWS, which asked 6,500 global consumers about their online habits and how they like to engage with online businesses.

RWS’s Unlocking Global Understanding research found that 62% of global consumers see the internet as very important when undertaking daily activities, with a third of people admitting they cannot live without the internet (35%) – rising to two-thirds in Japan. As a consequence, 20% of consumers spend over 10 hours a day online.

Yet when it comes to dealing with online companies, the provision of local language services can have a drastic impact on the user experience and the level of trust that consumers hold in different brands.

The vast majority of global consumers (89%) believe they should have the option of dealing with a company online in their preferred language, with half of those surveyed feeling strongly about this (49%). Despite this, 44% of consumers voiced their frustrations at the fact that the English language dominates the internet and consumer technology.

If brands want to access a global audience, 93% of consumers agree that these companies need to communicate with them in their preferred languages through all channels at all times. At a national level, 60% of Kenyans, 57% of Indians and 55% of Brazilians feel particularly strongly on this point. What’s more, although 77% trust businesses with a local presence, 58% agree that a localized online presence matches a physical presence in terms of trust.

Maria Schnell, Chief Language Officer at RWS, said: “It’s no surprise that consumers around the globe rely heavily on the internet for daily activities. Yet this dependency is being undermined by the fact that not all consumers are able to engage with companies in their preferred language. This can pose significant problems and foster feelings of alienation as consumers are forced to communicate in a foreign language. It also demonstrates a knowledge and cultural gap when it comes to marketing, advertising and customer services.

“The internet has the potential to truly empower people from local communities. However, this can only occur if companies are willing to recognize and appreciate local cultures, giving their consumers the opportunity to communicate in their own language. Doing so will open brands up to new market opportunities; if avoided, they run the real risk of alienating themselves from non-English speaking consumer markets.”

UK digital ad spend up 11% to £26.1bn in 2022
By:
0

The UK digital ad market maintained double digit growth of 11% in 2022, despite a challenging year as advertisers navigated the cost-of-living crisis, political uncertainty, and the impact of structural changes such as the removal of Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA).

The IAB’s latest Digital Adspend report, produced with PwC, shows that digital advertising spend stands at £26.1bn – a 56% overall increase since the pandemic began in 2020.

Key findings include:

  • Search continued to maintain market dominance with spend up 13% year-on-year to £13.1bn. Meanwhile, display investment grew by 6% to £10.4bn, with growth in this area fuelled by standard display ads (+ 14%). Video spend grew by 9%, largely driven by investment in outstream formats
  • Reflecting the growing diversity within the online ecosystem, Digital Adspend 2022 includes an official sizing of the UK’s digital retail media market for the first time, with spend standing at £176.4m. This figure relates to UK-based retailers and specifically charts onsite spend. Our forecast analysis indicates that spend in this area will continue to grow in 2023, becoming a key driver of digital’s overall market growth as advertisers increasingly harness retailers’ first-party data
  • In another first, the rate of growth in desktop spend (+ 14%) outstripped mobile (+ 8%) for the first time since records began, a development that coincides with Apple’s IDFA changes in-app and shows how structural changes are shaping the market. However, mobile still has the largest share of the market at 58%
  • Elsewhere, podcast spend grew by 32% to £76.3m, which is more than a three-fold increase since IAB UK first started measuring the market in 2020. Another area of strong growth was in a category that includes wearable devices and in-car advertising, indicating how advertiser spend is embracing the opportunities posed by new technology

Jon Mew, CEO at IAB UK, said: “The latest Digital Adspend results highlight two things: resilience and opportunity. Not only was 2022 challenging for our industry, as it was for the entire UK economy, it also followed a year of stratospheric, pandemic-induced growth in 2021. In this context, it’s testament to the resilience of digital advertising that the market has maintained double digit growth in 2022 – and astounding that it has grown by 56% since the pandemic began.

“Today’s results also reflect the growing opportunities for advertisers to resonate with audiences in new ways. Of course, search and display spend still underpin the digital ecosystem, but the UK’s flourishing retail media market – officially sized for the first time in this report – alongside the continued growth of podcasting, show how digital is diversifying to offer advertisers more choice and more immersive routes to connect with consumers.”

Hannah Biernat, Senior Manager, PwC, added: “This year’s Adspend results reflect a stabilisation of the market growth in line with pre-pandemic levels, demonstrating the robustness of the industry and its ability to weather wider spread economic and political uncertainties. Clients appear to be embracing connecting with audiences in emerging formats as demonstrated by the growth in podcast investment and formats across connected devices. It will be exciting to see how the industry continues to innovate and diversify in formats and channels in the coming year.”

Simon Lonsdale, Strategy Director, Tesco Media and Insight Platform powered by dunnhumby, commented: “It’s hugely significant that digital retail media is in the IAB’s 2022 Digital Adspend report for the first time. While various forecasts and estimates have been published over the past few months, this is the first official cross-market spend figure for the UK-based market, which reflects the growing importance of retail media to advertisers.

“Our priority is to evolve and grow our retail media business to allow advertisers to reach the customers that matter most to them at scale. We look forward to working closely with the IAB to pioneer the frameworks that are essential to underpin long-term growth and allow retail media to reach its full potential.”

Retailer apps boom as consumers seek deals
By:
0

A global survey has indicated more consumers are turning to retailers’ mobile apps to streamline in-store shopping experiences and score personalised offers and deals.

Across 11,000 consumer respondents surveyed by Airship, 78% are using retailers’ mobile apps either more often or about the same as last year.

This preference for retail apps extends across age groups and household income levels. Generationally, 81% of millennials and 79% of Gen X report using retail apps more or about the same as last year, followed by 72% of both Gen Z and boomers.

High household incomes lead in regular use of retail apps at 82%, followed by 79% of medium and 75% of low income levels.

When asked about 10 different activities one might use their smartphone to accomplish while shopping in-store, using the retailer’s app grew the most year over year. Globally, 74% of respondents said they are likely to use the brand’s app when shopping at its physical storefronts.

For most countries and generations, the likelihood of using a retailer’s app while shopping in-store is only a few percentage points behind visiting the retailer’s website despite first having to download apps from the App Store or Google Play.

Airship says the data suggests that inflation and the current economy is driving more deal-motivated behaviors from consumers. It also demonstrates an opportunity for retailers to expand customer understanding as shoppers are more motivated to share personal information in exchange for valuable offers and convenient experiences that better meet their needs.

“Today’s consumers are increasingly turning to mobile apps from their favorite retailers to score deals, gain special access and improve their overall customer experience, particularly while shopping at brick-and-mortar stores,” said Thomas Butta, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, Airship. “As marketing budgets are pinched and consumers face economic pressures, retailers need greater agility to create and optimize valuable app experiences that grow customer understanding and reward them individually, making life easier and better for everyone involved.”

81% of senior marketers have contingency plans… but only 21% follow them
By:
0

Eighty-one percent of marketing leaders have established a contingency plan to respond to disruptions, according to a survey by Gartner, but just 21% of respondents said they follow these plans, as marketers weather the storm of continued economic and geopolitical uncertainty.

A Gartner survey of nearly 400 marketing leaders conducted in November and December 2022 revealed that 44% of digital marketing leaders who enacted a contingency plan during an economic disruption event exceeded organization year-over-year profit growth.

“With ongoing economic and geopolitical disruption, contingency plans are more important than ever,” said Greg Carlucci, Senior Director Analyst in the Gartner Marketing practice. “Having a plan is a good first step, but following through on that plan when disruption occurs is what really matters.”

Nearly all respondents reported adjusting their marketing budgets in response to the current economic environment.

Positive budget adjustments are an effective way to counter disruption: Respondents who increased spending relative to their contingency plan were nearly two times more likely to achieve year-over-year profit growth than those who decreased spending or did nothing.

In contrast, just 5% of respondents decreased their spend, reflecting marketing leaders’ increased appetite for budget to deliver against their organizational objectives.

The three most utilized digital channels for B2B marketing organisations executing their 2022 marketing strategy were email marketing, social advertising and SEO, highlighting the effectiveness of these channels during times of disruption.

Investment in digital customer engagement ‘increases revenue by 90%’
By:
0

Investment in customer engagement continues to drive revenue growth and help companies meet their financial goals in the face of economic headwinds.

Twilio’s fourth annual State of Customer Engagement Report reveals that amid constrained resources and economic uncertainty, investment in digital customer engagement increased brands’ revenue by 90% on average, up from 70% last year.

The data also show that effective customer engagement strengthens brands’ ability to adapt to shifting market conditions and evolving consumer preferences.

Customer engagement leaders report increased customer retention, conversion and long-term loyalty, while six out of 10 companies report that investment in digital customer engagement improved their ability to meet changing customer needs.

Twilio’s State of Customer Engagement Report is based on a survey of more than 4,700 B2C leaders in key sectors across the world, plus a parallel survey of over 6,000 global consumers. It also incorporates data from Twilio’s own customer engagement platform, including Twilio Segment.

Twilio’s 2023 research explores essential consumer trends around personalization, data privacy and trust. The findings highlight the urgent need for brands to leverage zero- and first-party data, meaning data collected directly from interactions with customers rather than a third party, in order to improve customer experience and increase customer lifetime value.

The stakes of using data effectively are high, with 66% of consumers claiming they will stop using a brand if their experience is not personalized. Meanwhile, brands continue to overestimate how well they are meeting consumer expectations for communication preferences, protecting customer data privacy, and transparency around customer data usage. Additional consumer insights include:

  • Consumers want a faster transition to a cookieless future. Nearly one third of consumers always or often reject cookies on websites, while nearly two thirds (65%) of consumers would prefer brands use only first-party data to personalize their experiences. Meanwhile, eighty-one percent of brands are still reliant on third-party data.
  • Consumer frustration with inconsistent digital experiences is growing. 51% of consumers report being frustrated with their interactions over the past year, rising from 46% the year before.
  • Real-time personalization boosts customer lifetime value. 86% of consumers say that personalized experiences increase their loyalty to brands, and consumers spend on average 21% more on brands that personalize.
  • Consumers trust brands less than brands realize. 95% of consumers want more control over their customer data, placing top priority on “identity data.” Four in 10 consumers say they have stopped doing business with a brand after their expectations for trust and privacy weren’t met.

As part of the research, Twilio divided B2C companies into three categories based on their customer engagement maturity: customer engagement leaders, framers, and beginners. Customer engagement leaders—companies that have the most mature use of personalization, first-party data, and highest level of digital engagement—reported enormous benefits and increased revenue growth compared to those who have less advanced customer engagement strategies. Specifically,

  • 82% of customer engagement leaders met or exceeded their company’s financial goals for 2022, compared to 62% of customer engagement beginners
  • 40% of engagement leaders reported much higher customer retention rates than previous years, compared to 12% of beginners
  • 41% of engagement leaders reported much higher customer conversion rates than previous years, versus 15% of beginners.

“In this macroeconomic climate, every business is looking to do more with less budget,” said Joyce Kim, chief marketing officer at Twilio. “This research reflects what we’re hearing across our customer base, which is that when brands use first-hand data to personalize engagement with customers, it saves companies meaningful marketing spend and increases lifetime value. For brands facing growing headwinds, this means ROI today.”

Twilio’s State of Consumer Engagement Report 2023 is available as a web report with data available from 18 countries worldwide, and as a comprehensive, downloadable white paper. Both can be found at www.twilio.com/state-of-customer-engagement.

Only over a quarter of UK organisations have omnichannel connected in their organisations 
By:
0

Traditional communication methods are still the popular with three quarters (76%) of businesses using Email and three-fifths (59%) using SMS, but only 7% of UK businesses are using digital messaging apps.

The ongoing cost-of-living crisis has set a gloomy tone for consumersacross the country. Whilst customers tighten their pockets, businesses are looking for ways to deliver relevant and personalised communications that keeps customers keen. Yet businesses are missing the mark, according to exclusive new online research from global cloud communications platform Infobip.

The research, commissioned with research company IDG, polled 215 organisations spanning across  retail & e-commerce, transport and logistics, telecommunications, financial and insurance and public sector industries. The research aimed to assess the integration of digital channels and how connected they are across differing departments within an organisation and how this informs the customer experience.

The research found that only over a quarter (28%) of UK organisations have omnichannel connected in their organisations, yet over 60% of UK organisations see the value in connected communication channels.

The results also found the following about channel use in UK organisations:

  • There is a slower adoption of newer digital messaging apps: Traditional communication methods are still the popular with three-quarters (76%) of businesses using Email and 59% using SMS but only 7% of UK businesses are using digital messaging apps; next year this figure is set to double (14%).
  • (66%) of data used in the different channels is customer information, yet only 6% of communication is personalised by behaviour or context.
  • Businesses are finding omnichannel difficult to implement: 61% of UK businesses see a lack of collaboration or connection between departments as the main challenges for implementing an omnichannel Customer Experience

With half (50%) of UK organisations in the process of selecting such technology now, and a third  (33%) planning to invest in having omnichannel messaging platform over the next 6-12 months, the research shows that having connected communication channels is of priority. However there seems to be difficulty in integrating this and using it. The main challenges cited for implementing an omnichannel Customer Experience is difficulty in integrating data with legacy systems (62%) and lack of collaboration or connection between departments (61%).

Almost half of UK and European companies (45% and 41%) have high levels of some digitisation within their organisation, and consistent with the Europe-wide finding, almost all (99%) companies in the UK have customer experience automation integrated into their business at some level. But only half of companies in UK and Europe are actively implementing omnichannel into their systems. There is still some way to go for businesses to achieve optimal omnichannel experience for their end-users.

Ivan Ostojić, Chief Business Officer, at Infobip said: “Just like ourselves, our customers have an abundance of choice ranging from WhatsApp to Skype with their communication apps. While traditional communication methods are still going strong, to deliver effective and personal communication we need to tap into the digital messaging apps that our customers know, prefer and love. It’s encouraging to see we are recognising where our customers are and how we can reach them, this is informing where businesses are investing and funnelling their efforts. However, this can be a confusing task with legacy systems predating omnichannel methods. Partnering with businesses that specialise in supporting businesses transform their customer offering can lighten their load.”

AI startups raised over $5bn venture capital funding in 2022
By:
0

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has captured the attention of venture capital (VC) investors globally. Against this backdrop, 3,198 AI startups received $52.1 billion funding across 3,396 VC funding deals during 2022.

However, an analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database reveals that 2022 experienced a subdued VC funding activity across sectors and AI space also felt the brunt of a dent in investor sentiments. Although VC funding deal volume as well as value in the AI space declined in 2022 compared to the previous year, the impact was more prominent in terms of value.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, explained: “The number of VC funding deals announced in AI space globally declined by 4% in 2022 compared to the previous year, whereas the corresponding deals value was down by a massive 41.8%.”

AI deal volume experienced a fluctuating quarter-on quarter (Q-o-Q) trend throughout 2021 and 2022. Meanwhile, deal value declined for the six straight quarters through Q3 2022. However, there was a rebound in both VC funding deals volume and value in Q4 2022.

Some of the notable VC deals announced in the AI space during 2022 include $1.5 billion fundraising by Anduril Industries, $580 million raised by Anthropic, and $500 million fundraising by Black Sesame Intelligent Technology.

Bose concluded: “The subdued VC funding activity in the AI space seems to be for short-term while long-term prospects are likely to be promising and the rebound in both deals volume and value in Q4 2022 could be seen as an indication of it.”

Twitterati shows mixed feelings towards Meta Verified
By:
0

Diverse perspectives among Twitter influencers around Meta’s user verification initiative surged dramatically in the third week of February.

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has launched a paid subscription bundle “Meta Verified” starting at $11.99 a month that includes account verification with impersonation protections and access to increased visibility and support.

And according to GlobalData’s Social Media Analytics Platform there has been a mixed response among Twitter Influencers following the announcement.

Smitarani Tripathy, Social Media Analyst at GlobalData, said: “Some influencers opine that the service is needed to filter fake accounts, as Meta is actually verifying and not just charging for the badge. They prefer the steps taken by Meta to verify over Twitter and slams the SMS verification of Twitter.

“Meanwhile, some influencers say this new change may also give rise to verified scammers. Influencers have also found it expensive for users as the company wants to monetize its new features.  At the same time, some influencers expect the remaining social media platforms to launch verification subscriptions.”

Below are a few of the most popular influencer opinions captured by the GlobalData’s Social Media Analytics Platform:

  1. Ross Gerber, CEO at Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management:

“Meta is offering customer service with their subscription service along with verification. This is well needed on instagram as it’s filled with fraud and fake accounts… and so many ‘influencers’ who can now be verified. Nor are they charging the people already verified. $META”

  1. Ari Paul, Founder of BlockTower Capital:

“Worth noting how unrelated this is to twitter’s program.  Meta is actually doing verification, not just charging for a badge.  And comes with service.”

  1. Mark Gruman, Chief Correspondent at Bloomberg LP:

“Twitter, Facebook etc should charge all they want for verification, extra features, fewer ads, new icons, better customer support etc. Completely reasonable. But charging for things like SMS authentication and for preventing platform problems like bot impersonators isn’t right.”

  1. Rachel Tobac, CEO at SocialProof Security:

“If we’re going to do paid verification at all, I’m glad Meta has required 2FA for it.

This ensures that an additional step is required upon sign in and reduces account takeover. Would love to see additional education on likely scams to steal pw/MFA for these types of accounts.”

  1. Sumit Gupta, Co-Founder CoinDCX:

“After Twitter Blue, #MarkZuckerberg launches Meta Verified badges! Wondering if this is actually thought out for adding real value to the audience or more for generating revenues. Also worried that this strategy may give rise to verified scammers!  Will have to wait and watch”

  1. Ben Parr, Co-Founder at Octane AI:

“Meta is rolling out the ability to pay for verification on Instagram. It will change the entire ecosystem around verification as a status symbol. Will the idea of verified accounts as being important symbols fade away? Check marks mean nothing anymore.”

  1. Ken Yeung, Co-Host and Producer at The Created Economy:

“Will #YouTube, #TikTok and #LinkedIn soon follow suit and launch a verification subscription offering like Twitter and Meta?”

ChatGPT, WebAssembly, and Serverless will spur app modernisation this year
By:
0

DevOps will be a dominant driver in the cloud computing arena in 2023, as enterprises advance their app modernisation strategies using the likes of ChatGPT and other AI-driven tech.

This prediction came about as part of research by GlobalData Technology Analyst Charlotte Dunlap, who notes that significant innovations in sophisticated application architectures will usher in new serverless deployment integrations with various cloud services, abstracting complicated configuration requirements.

Dunlap said: “Ground-breaking new artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot achievements based on large language models (such as ChatGPT) will ease developers’ cumbersome coding requirements by automating the writing/converting of scripting, particularly programming languages developers are unfamiliar with.

GlobalData reveals that increased AI/automation advancements and accessibility will significantly escalate in 2023, playing a greater role in easing next-generation app development capabilities among developers and DevOps teams.

Dunlap added: “A primary example that highlights 2023 AI/automation innovations is the recent release of ChatGPT, version 3.5. The Natural Language Processing (NLP) model, developed by OpenAI, is trained on a massive amount of text data, so it’s able to generate human-like text and response. In addition to using the prototype AI chatbot to outright create new code without having to know any programming languages, a major use case will be in improving the Natural Language Understanding (NLU) of apps targeting customer service to provide more human-like responses to user-inputs. Such technology advancements will result in a newfound prioritization of DevOps among enterprises, based on a new wave of developer technologies, which significantly remove obstructions hindering deployment of modern apps.”

Additionally, over the next 12 months, developers will have access to integrated serverless app deployment options through key services including database management and app development tools, paving the way for serverless computing to be paired with event-driven architectures.

Dunlap conlcuded: “Since its rollout a few years ago, serverless computing hasn’t lived up to expectations due to the problematic underlying architecture. However, in recent months, providers have worked through some of those issues, including abstracting scalability configuration requirements.

Furthermore, game-changing developer tools, including WebAssembly, will leverage traditional web browser technology to create new uses with containers and Functions-as-a-Service (FaaS). The new technology is able to provide more robust cloud management of apps at scale on the same cloud infrastructure.’’